What Healthcare Issues Do You Care About Most During COVID-19?

I hope this communication finds you safe and finding ways to have joy in these trying times. I have faith that we will emerge stronger and smarter from this experience.

First of all, I want to thank everyone who has participated in our survey and encourage anyone who hasn’t to click here and give us your input. The survey asks about your experiences with the COVID-19 pandemic, your health, your healthcare, how the government and drug manufacturers have performed so far and how you get your information about the pandemic. It is important for you to speak out about these important health issues. Those in Washington, that have such an impact on our lives in these stressful times, need to know how you feel about these issues. Please participate.

Second, I want to talk about importation. This is an issue that I’ve talked about before. It has been trumpeted by Washington at different times over the years as a way to lower costs. The importation of prescription drugs has some basic flaws:

It lacks the basic safeguards to guarantee the safety of the medicine

The approach is resisted, or is outright rejected, by the very countries who would be counted on to support this approach

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has calculated that importation would result in minimal savings, if any at all

I can’t help but think that the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted another flaw, our reliance on other countries for our medicine. I’m not talking about the raw materials or manufacturing that are supplied or accomplished by foreign countries and certified by the FDA. I’m talking about legislation that circumnavigates these established, inspected and approved supply lines and opens up pathways for counterfeit drugs. We see today countries arguing about who would get COVID-19 vaccines or medicine first, deals being made between countries that might ignore the priority of getting medicines or vaccines to those who need it most. It highlights another reason that importation legislation is not the solution. When push comes to shove a foreign country’s priorities will come before ours and any agreement that is not based on economics and competition will be driven by political priorities that will not be to the safety and benefit of the patient.

As I have said before, as the elections get closer, the politicians will begin to focus on schemes to get elected. Importation may again be presented as a solution to drug prices. We all need to understand the real dangers of this flawed solution.